It occurred to me as I wrote this that this will be my 600th post. Pretty incredible, and a little scary. Sort of like baba ganoush! You see, back when I started this thing...way back...I don't know that I ever thought about what it could be. And what it turned out to be is something pretty awesome, for myself. It's not the biggest or best blog on the internet today, but that's not what is important to me. What is important is the opportunity for a little creative writing and a lot of cooking.

Anytime life starts to get stale, it's this blog that kicks it back up into high gear. And I'm excited that my 600th post is baba ganoush because I'm not sure I even knew what that was 5 years ago. It's a perfect representation of how far I've come and obviously, how much farther we have to go! John and I are busy working out, eating healthy, and counting our calories in an effort to look and feel our best.

In an effort to do this, I've been trying to recreate our favorite takeout dishes from home. One of which is Middle Eastern. Earlier this week, you got hummus; now, get the other special spread that makes their food so good, and HINT, it's easier than you think! Sort of like this blogging thing.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prick each eggplant a few times with a fork. Char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner. Turn them so the eggplants are charred evenly on the outside, 5-10 minutes.

Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast 30-35 minutes, until a knife easily goes through them. Remove from the oven and let cool 15-25 minutes, until cool to the touch.

Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. Puree the pulp in a food processor. Then add to the mixture and blend with tahini paste, salt, lemon juice, garlic, chili powder, olive oil and parsley or cilantro leaves until smooth. Serve drizzled with olive oil.